Author: SME Chamber

This week Liz Said GRTU's Membership Secretary attended a Cabeo Project in Torino organised by Euro Commerce. This Seminar focused on Managing Sustainable Services for Members in the Retail and Commerce Sector.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This three day seminar was attended by various employers associations from other EU countries where a brain storming session and discussions were held on the different level of services that could be offered to their respective members in their associations. During the seminar there  was exchange of ideas of new services that could be offered by the association which could be of benefit to their members.

"There is no doubt that the global economy is facing increasing risks but the way leading to recovery remains open. The choices ahead of us are not vast as there are many lingering uncertainties and there is weak resolve to implement solutions. It is so obviously clear that European leaders must lead and implement bold action together if Europe does not look at the future with a common vision we might as well forget about the whole European Project as in the absence of strong leadership and common vision the European union has no future.

The flaws that now are so visible in the structure of the European Monetary Union will not be remedied by single member individual action but by a common and credible action to which all members of the European Union are committed".  Vincent Farrugia was speaking at EESC last week soon after European Commissioner for Competition Joaquin Almunia made his presentation on behalf of the EU Commission on action being taken by the EU to meet current financial and economic obstacles.

Vincent Farrugia further emphasized: "that the serious re-capitalization of banks is becoming increasingly urgent. The EU must halt the spread of economic and business uncertainty as enterprise owners' measure from close range the worsening liquidity crisis and this is having a great negative impact on business confidence right across the EU.

The European Financial Stability Facility must be mobilized with urgency to directly re-capitalize banks. More strengthening action needs to be taken both fiscally and financially to ensure that sovereign finances become more sustainable" stressed Malta Employer's Association. Business owners strongly emphasize growth: we need more capital investments in the infrastructure, the planned Euro Project Bonds scheme must be put urgently into action so that Europe starts seriously investing for future growth. The private sector can provide substantial financing which together with the support of European Central Bank can give a new impetus to growth in many regions across Europe emphasized Vince Farrugia.

"Curtailments of public expenditure in deficit countries is important but drastic up-front belt-tightening on its own is not the solution. Growth is the key-word. But there cannot be growth without a credible common vision. Growth and productivity must be the strategies that will lead us forward and the EU Commission must ensure that member states are all geared for stronger economic growth with budget deficits.

On Wednesday 12th October at Palazzo Capua the Malta business community welcomed Mike Aldridge from UK to explain how a well-structured risk and opportunity control system, operated by the board and senior management of an enterprise, can bring new confidence by proactively managing business uncertainties and strategies.

 

The event was organised by Areti Business Issue Solutions Ltd (the internal audit arm of Busuttil & Micallef, Certified Public Accountants & Practising Auditors) and was attended by directors and managers from a variety of business sectors. These varied from hospitality, construction, health, and insurance to energy, manufacturing and an airline. Mr Paul Abela, President, and Mr Vincent Farrugia, Director General of GRTU were among the delegates.

There was discussion on the current economic uncertainties, which impact on all businesses to some degree, and how risk management can contribute to a business's strategic response. Mike's presentation also brought out queries and comments on planning and control topics which, if not managed well, can leave companies exposed to decline or worse. There was lively discussion on succession planning, particularly in the context of family businesses, and on the use of risk focused internal audits to ensure policies and procedures are operating as intended.

The need to adapt normal financial and other controls to monitor projects and initiatives was emphasised. So too was the need to adapt strategies on staffing, IT, customer service and finance when operations are overseas.

Mike's next visit to Malta will be in November, and he has offered to meet both collectively and individually by appointment with GRTU members who would like to learn more about how risk management may reduce some of the stresses of running a business and maximise the likelihood of its continuing prosperity.

Areti Business Issue Solutions Ltd is a Maltese joint venture company , formed from Areti Corporate Services Ltd in Malta with Business Issue Solutions Ltd in UK. Mike is the Managing Director of BIS, which he formed in 2008 to promote his risk management business. He has over 30 years of risk management and internal audit experience, initially with multinational companies and from 1996 with a variety of clients in his consultancy business. More details may be found on the Areti BIS website at http://www.areti-bis.com/ .

Any consumer has a right to present a complaint. But businesses cannot stay hanging on for three, four months awaiting a call for a decision in front of consumers' Arbiter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority(MCCAA) was established to resolve previous bottlenecks. A three month delay process is excessive and smells of incompetence. Most decisions are taken against the Retailer or Trader on the assumption that it's a consumer affairs arbiter and retailers and traders are more often than not treated as guilty even before a hearing starts; delays, prejudice and poor technical and commercial knowledge.

The cost of technical expertise is excessive and the knowledge of expertise is often waiting. This is one other reform that GRTU assesses as a failure.

After months of negotiations GRTU is still without a decision on the new system for gas cylinders distribution in the districts. Government issued a draft law amendment for consultation. The system approved by the Fair Competition Office – a distribution system selling gas cylinders of all suppliers, today, Liquigas (green or yellow) and Easygas (grey) is acceptable to GRTU but not to the suppliers who prefer a free reign irrespective to the negative impact on the livelihood of the gas distributors. For them the gas distributors and their families and their employees and their families are not worth considering.

 

What the Government is proposing is a system where distributors may use one truck or separate trucks with one set of gas cylinders from each supplier on the same truck. Or else use two separate trucks with different gas cylinders on each truck thus enabling different suppliers' customer schemes to be sold independently. Government, however, continues to dither and in the meantime the two suppliers are now on the road with their own trucks in direct competition with the traditional distributors. A situation of complete comedy. All this to the great anger of all distributors and their employees. This is a case of bureaucratic incompetence.

GRTU has now decided to call a hold to this unending issue. Distributors have been directed to go on public protest and other truck owners GRTU members are meeting to agree to support this gas distributor's action. The cargo haulers have already agreed to give their support to the gas distributors' public protest.

Other section committees will be meeting in the next few days. It is long since there have been so much anger at GRTU. The issue is one: Government's complete inability to decide on what is essentially a relatively minor issue.

Background

Commission Proposal COM(2011) 456 was published in the Official Journal of the EU on the 26^th July 2011. This proposal will revise and repeal the current Directive governing the placing on the market of recreational crafts, personal watercrafts and their engines. The proposal first needs to be discussed at European Parliament and Council of Ministers level before being formally adopted as a new Directive. Once adopted, further transitional periods would be expected. 

 

The purpose of this consultation is to obtain feedback from stakeholders in order to draft Malta's position for discussions at Council level. Following adoption of the proposal, amendments to the provisions will not be permitted.

Key points proposed for revision

The main changes being proposed at this stage are:

Stricter exhaust emission limits for engines, in view of health benefits to users, preservation of the marine environment and also improve the air quality in areas where crafts are concentrated (such as holiday resorts). Importers are strongly advised to contact their respective suppliers and manufacturers to ensure that they can provide them with products (in particular 2-stroke engines) that are compliant to these new provisions;

Alignment of exhaust and noise emission requirements with those in the USA, thus allowing manufacturers to save costs and become more competitive by being able to serve the world market with a single production line;

New constructional safety requirements to reflect newer technologies;

Clarification of obligations of economic operators, rules for affixing of the CE-marking and obligations on Member States with respect to market surveillance.

Who will be affected?

Competent Authorities, Manufacturers, Authorised Representatives, Notified Bodies, Importers, Distributors and Users of watercrafts.

What products will be affected?

The following products fall under the scope of the regulations:

Recreational Crafts – any boat of any type intended for sports and leisure purposes of hull length from 2.5m to 24m, regardless of the means of propulsion;

Personal Watercraft (PWC) – a watercraft intended for sports and leisure purposes of less than 4m in length which uses an internal combustion engine having a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and designed to be operated by a person or persons sitting, standing or kneeling on, rather than within the confines of, a hull;

Propulsion Engine – any spark or compression ignition, internal combustion engine used for propulsion purposes;

Partly completed recreational crafts;

Components of watercrafts – Ignition-protected equipment for inboard and stern drive petrol engines and petrol tank spaces; Start-in-gear protection devices for outboard engines; Steering wheels, steering mechanisms and cable assemblies; Fuel tanks intended for fixed installations and fuel hoses; Prefabricated hatches and port lights.

Deadline for feedback

Feed back to arrive at our offices by Friday 14^th October 2011.

Contact details

Feedback or requests for clarifications are to be addressed to:

Technical Regulations Division,

MALTA COMPETITION & CONSUMER AFFAIRS AUTHORITY,

Second Floor, Evans Building, Merchants Street,

Valletta, VLT 1179,

Malta

Emails: ;

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The National Enterprise Support Awards, launched by the Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Land within the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment and the Parliamentary Secretary for Consumer, Fair Competition, Local Councils and Public Dialogue within the Office of the Prime Minister, recognise and award initiatives that support entrepreneurship. Moreover, this initiative should serve to encourage entities to start planning specific projects which would attain the scope of these awards.

 

These awards are not just a competition but they also have the aim to bring about more awareness on entrepreneurship.  

Those who apply for this competition, irrespective of whether or not they are declared as the winners of the national phase of the competition, will be eligible for nomination to compete in the European Enterprise Awards.

Objectives

Identify and recognise successful activities and initiatives undertaken to promote enterprise and entrepreneur ship

Showcase and share examples of best entrepreneurship policies and practices

Create a greater awareness of the role entrepreneurs play in society

Encourage and inspire potential entrepreneurs

Encourage new projects or inititatives in favour of entrepreneurship

 

Those interested can contact GRTU for the guidelines document.

The Commission's proposals on contract law, which will be published on 12 October, will cover both B2C and B2B contracts. This was made clear by Dirk Staudenmayer, Head of Contract Law Unit at DG Justice, during a meeting with EuroCommerce. It was further confirmed by Paraskevi Michou, Director DG Justice, at the Direct Selling Europe (DSE) conference on 23 September. GRTU supports EuroCommerce in continuing  to advocate against the inclusion of B2B and for a fairer balance for B2C contracts.

On 20 September, the Commission published a roadmap for the more efficient use of resources in Europe. The aim is to pursue an economic growth in Europe, which does not automatically imply an increase in the consumption of natural resources. This will involve a more rational management and use of natural resources throughout their life cycle. The Resource Efficiency Roadmap will favour market-based instruments, which give a message to investors, producers and consumers, along with incentives to pursue it.